Packer and Nystrom's book Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty To Delight also contains helpful assignments for group study/reflection associated with each chapter. The assignments are broken down into the topics of study, prayer and writing. … [Read more...] about Addendum to Previous Post
Theology
Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight
J.I. Packer and Carolyn Nystrom have just published a book with InterVarsity Press called Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight. The book is based on a series of taped lectures on prayer given by Dr. Packer, which Ms. Nystrom then developed into a transcript, which the two later developed. The authors describe their book as a “heart-to-heart affair in which two Christians who try to pray and wish they prayed better share thoughts about what they are doing with people whom they envisage as being like themselves.” I resonate with the struggle in prayer that they describe: … [Read more...] about Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight
PC(USA) — losses in membership
I have made a few blog posts in the past on the PC(USA). My intention has not been to be mean-spirited, but to honestly probe what happens when the simple yet counter-cultural teaching of Scripture is circumvented in the name of relevance. That having been said, I am in no way denying that there are some God-honoring, Christ-exalting, Bible-affirming PC(USA) pastors out there. For example, I've been blessed by much of what Mark D. Roberts has been sharing. Here are some of the sad statistics on the massive decline in membership within the PC(USA). In short, a loss of 65,000 in 2005 and an … [Read more...] about PC(USA) — losses in membership
Desiring God National Conference – Sep 29 – Oct 1
We're back from our family vacation to Grand Rapids, MN. It was a fantastically relaxing time of sitting by the lake, swimming, barbeque-ing every night, and bonding. Our daughter Karis had some difficulty (as did Marni and I) with the sweltering heat (mid-90s, sometimes with humidity to boot). The family vacation afforded me the opportunity of some extended reading time. I read ahead on most of the assigned reading for my upcoming Preaching class this Fall and Spring. But the book that has most been captivating me (I'm about 1/3 of the way through) is David Well's Above All Earthly … [Read more...] about Desiring God National Conference – Sep 29 – Oct 1
Blogging Vacation: July 22 – July 29
Dear Readers, My wife and I will be taking Karis up to a lake for a week (it is a Minnesota-sort of thing to do). No Internet. Almost no telephone. Just a few books, games, and conversation. I posted a bunch of stuff tonight, and Lord willing, will be back to posting on July 30. Blessings, Alex … [Read more...] about Blogging Vacation: July 22 – July 29
Al Mohler (Years Ago) Changed His Mind on Women as Pastors
Al Mohler comments on the fact that Dr. Frank Page (SBC President) once affirmed that women should be allowed to be pastors. In Dr. Page's 1980 Ph.D. dissertation, he argued for the abolition of all distinctions in the role of men and women in the church. Mohler explains that this was the prevailing view in the SBC at that time, which led him, too, to accept this position as a seminary student in the early 1980s. Get this: Mohler actually went so far as to help lead a protest of the 1984 SBC resolution on women in ministry. So how did Mohler come to change his mind on this crucial issue, … [Read more...] about Al Mohler (Years Ago) Changed His Mind on Women as Pastors